The Case of the Red Fang
by The Silent Mistress
Summary: Penelope gets a visit from an alarming guest and is left horrified by it. While there is a burglar on the loose, who may or may not be a vampire.
1. Chapter 1

I love this video game and its community needs help growning. So I decided to throw some plant food on it. Enjoy~

Desclaimer: I don not own Touch Detective

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As night fell over the town, no one at a certain condominium knew that they would have the unfortunate displeasure of a visit from a mysterious guest. Especially not little Miss Penelope, who was about to retire to bed. All the lights were turn off- except for her favorite banana nightlight- and she slip herself into the soft, comforting sheets of her bed. But before she could fall asleep, she could hear the muffle sounds of footsteps up above her; thump, thump.

After a few moments of thumps, they suddenly stop for a moment, and was soon replace by the sound of something heavy being drag across the floor. Soon that had stop as well, but then there was another odd noise just outside her window. It sounds like someone decided to bang their fist against the side of the building repeatedly. She turn to her uncover window, and try to see what it was out there through the thick darkness.

She shiver with forebode chills, as the noise got louder. Her body became tense, as her heart beat quicken. Creatively, horrific images of monsters with sharp claws and teeth dance around in her head. Fearful tears began to well up in her eyes, as she could just envision their ugly faces press up against the glass. Out of fear she pull the covers up over her head and curl up into a tight, little ball like a scare child.

Which was exactly what she was. She listen intently to the ominous bangs from outside.

Soon everything became quiet again, and Penelope began to relax. She peek out from under her shelter, that she hope would keep the monsters from getting to her. Only calm silence was the one to greet her when she did; she let out a sigh of relief, for a moment there she really thought there was something scary outside. Soon after that, something drop down from the sky and appear in the window! She let out a terror stricken shriek, flee from the condominium and down the street as she continue her long, loud screams of horror. Which had waken up almost everyone in the entire the town.

-The Case of the Red Fang: Part 1-

At the home of the town's very own detective Mackenzie; the said detective flip through the channels with a board expression on. She change from channel to channel in a quest to find something remotely interesting on, while her partner Funghi lay asleep by her side. After about 20 minutes of channel surf, she had given up on finding anything worth wild to watch. It seems T.V just sucks today, with it being chock full of shows that were either stupid or to weird for her taste. On the channel she had left it on, there was a commercial that advertise a bazar, gothic like convention, that was going to be in town soon.

She could then feel the remote being taken out of her hand, "Milady it is getting late; you should be heading off to bed," said her butler Cromwell, as he turn off the television. Mackenzie reply with a sleepy yawn and gently pick up her partner. She walk slowly towards her bedroom, and was about to turn her bedroom door's knob when suddenly frantic knocks came from the front door, "Now who could that be at this hour of the night?" inquire Cromwell as he unlock the door. Which then slam right into his face and brutally knock him over onto to the floor. As a bug eye, panic stricken Penelope rush in as if her life depends upon it. In fact she run in so quickly that she trip over her own feet and fell face first onto the the wooden floor. Mackenzie stare at her friend with surprise eyes, while Funghi remain peacefully in dream world. Cromwell brush himself off, "Why Miss Penelope, what are you doing here at this hour of the night?" he ask, as he help her up off the floor.

Penelope shiver as if she was cold, while her eyes were like the ones of a frighten animal when its face to face with a hunter. She spoke in a shrill voice as she said, "M-Mackenzie I-I saw a, a, a…" but she couldn't finish for one furious Chloe storm in and roughly grab her by her shoulders.

"Whats the big idea running around screaming in the middle of the night! I was having the most marvelous dream, and then you came screaming down the street like a maniac! Do you have any idea what time it is, seriously?" Chloe yell in the girl's face, as she shake her vigorously. It soon look like the poor girl was going to be sick, with her face turning a sickly green. Luckily for her, Mackenzie intervene before that could happen.

"Uh, Chloe," said Mackenzie quietly, but loud enough to draw Chloe's attention.

"Its practically midnight, I should be sleeping right now!" Chloe bark angrily, as she stop her previous action. Penelope's head sway from side to side, as the world spin around her. It was like she was on an out of control marry-go-round, but without all the nice music.

The first thought that pop up in Mackenzie's mind was, "Its only 8:00,"she said as she points Chloe's attention to the antique, grandfather clock that was on the other side of the room. This didn't help with Chloe's already peevish mood, and the pulsate vain that appear on her large forehead was proof enough of that.

"What does it matter what time it is! Its nighttime and I should be in bed asleep! I could be dreaming about next Monday's test answers right now," she then turn her attention back to the slightly dizzy Penelope, "What were you screaming for anyway?" Penelope then remember why she came here in the first place and she let out a frighten squeal at the thought of it. Chloe was quickly loosing her patience, as she stare down at Penelope curl up on the floor, "Spit it out already!"

"Please lower your voice, Miss Chloe," Cromwell ask politely and then turn his attention to the wreck on the floor, "Now Miss Penelope, would you please tell us the reason why you're here tonight."

Penelope immediately got up off the hard floor, "Oh, yeah, well its really scary," said Penelope with chills going up and down her spine.

"Just spit it out already, I wanna go home and go to bed," said Chloe irritably, as she tap her foot on the hard wooden floor impatiently. Which reminds Penelope of the creepy footsteps from Daisy's room. She let out a high pitch squeak, as the whole scene replay itself in her mind. In response, Chloe's foot taps grew louder and quicker; like Penelope's heart beat when the images of wicked creatures that had pranced around in her head, "Spit it out!"

"F-footsteps," Penelope whisper; she soon brought her hands to her mouth, while she tremble like she was outside in a snowstorm. The sounds from those awful footsteps echo in her eardrum. Tears well up in her eyes as she relive the frightful moment in her mind's eye.

Chloe cease her aggressive foot taps, "Footsteps?"

"I-I-I heard footsteps above me," she whisper and then she bit her lip.

"Footsteps, whats wrong with that?" inquiry Mackenzie, she didn't see any reason for this to be such a scary thing, "Wouldn't that just mean that Daisy came home?"

"Yeah, but Daisy left this morning to go spend the night, with her mother whose sick," said Penelope, "She said she wouldn't be home until 10:00 tomorrow morning," Mackenzie contemplate over this; if Daisy wasn't home and wasn't going to be home until tomorrow morning. Then who was in her room?

"It was obviously a burglar. Didn't you say that Daisy had all shorts of cool stuff in her room? He probably waited until she left and broke in," said Chloe, "This is a job for," her hand ball itself up into a fist that face the ground, "Chloe the super sleuth!" she said as she un-ball her fist into a sideways peace sign, place up to her eye, and then snap her fingers, "I'll catch that burglar in no time and then get the reward," and for all this trouble Penelope had put her though she better get a good one. She was the about to sprint out the door, but before she could Penelope exclaim.

"B-but thats not all, I saw it!" that had stop Chloe from leaving. Everyone then turn their attention to her.

"Really, well then who is it?" Chloe ask, not wanting to stick around here anymore then she had to.

"It was a, a, a-" she starts off but was soon cut her off from her stutters of the letter a, by an increasingly irritated Chloe.

"Good grief, say it already, seriously. I don't have time for this!" Chloe complain, as she look back at the antique clock that read 8:27. She couldn't wait to jump back into bed, luckily for everyone it was Friday so she could sleep for hours tomorrow morning. She would have been in an unbearably foul mood if she didn't have adequate amount of sleep. In which she would have taken it out on everyone for the rest of the day.

"Yes, please do Miss Penelope, it is getting rather late and we would all like retire to bed as soon as possible," said Cromwell politely, like everyone else in that room- asides from Penelope, who was to work up to even consider sleep- he too long for the hard, cold enclose space of his bed. However, he was a tad bit curious about what had disturb the poor girl so much.

"I saw a-," she said the last part so quietly that nobody heard it.

"I didn't hear any of that! Thats it, I'm leaving, I got dreams to dream," said Chloe as she approach the doorway.

"I, I saw a vampire!" Penelope squeak, as soon as she said that the old clock rung out to alert everyone that it was 8:30. For that moment, the clock's alarm sounds almost sinister.

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	2. Chapter 2

The only sound that was made after the last toll of the grandfather clock was Funghi's snoring, killing the tension. Mackenzie, holding her chin thoughtfully, as she muse over the idea that Penelope saw a vampire. Her first instinct was to think that Penelope was mistaken, since vampires don't exist and that it's Penelope whose claiming this. On top of that, Penelope had been mistaken before, such as in the case where she mistook Silver, the animatronic doll, for a dead body. But as she thought about it, many of her past cases compels her to take into consideration that Penelope could be correct. Her past cases have proven that ghosts, fairies, talking trees, living fossils, and aliens exist, with that in mind, what is stopping vampires from existing too? Also, its not like Penelope is wrong a hundred percent of the time, since she was right about someone stealing her dreams and that there was a snow fairy trapped in the ice skating rink, so she couldn't simply mark Penelope off as being mistaken. Still, Mackenzie would prefer to believe that her friend is mistaken; believing that there is a vampire in town, with sharp fangs, glowing red eyes, sucking the blood out of a woman's neck is a very unpleasant thought to digest.

"What did he look like Penelope?" Chloe ask earnestly. "Was he bald with pointy ears and sharp claws? Was he wearing a cape?"

"I, I don't…" said Penelope, she didn't really get a good look at the monster. Besides, she didn't really want to think back and try to answer that question. What she really wants is some hot milk to calm her down and a fluffy blanket wrapped around her.

"Penelope." said Chloe, as she grabs Penelope's shoulders. "This is important, the whole town is in danger! If you can't be useful and provide needed info, then everyone could die! Mackenzie, me, and everyone else could be turned into vampires, is that what you want?" Penelope stare back at her friend in a dumb, frighten stupor; she could already see Chloe's eyes turning red and long fangs poking out from her upper lip. _'Way to be overdramatic._' thought Mackenzie.

She shakes her head frantically to drive the images away. "Nooo!" cry Penelope, wanting to go off and hide under something, but Chloe's strong grip kept her in place.

"That is a bit of an exaggeration, Miss Chloe, I am sure the fiend will be caught before it gets to that point." Said Cromwell. "However, Miss Chloe is right on this being a grave danger to the town's folk." _'Wait, you believe her?'_ thought Mackenzie, staring up at Cromwell. "Miss Penelope, if you have any information that would prove useful in tracking down this fiend, please share."

"Well." Penelope starts, "I didn't get a very good look at him, but," She pause for a moment. She had to fight through the scariness in order to save the town, with that in mind, she shut her eyes tightly and force herself to say, without stuttering. "I saw glowing green fangs and red eyes."

'_Glowing green fangs?'_ thought Mackenzie to herself. _'I never heard of a vampire having glowing green fangs before.' _Chloe was also pondering over it, coming to the conclusion that. "This must have been a radioactive vampire."

"Radioactive vampire?" said Mackenzie. _'Did you just make that up?' _

"Yes," said Chloe as if it was obvious. Shaking her head in a disappointed manner at Mackenzie's confusion, as if she had ask her if 2 + 2 really equals 4. "Have you been living under a rock? It was all over the Paranormal Weekly, haven't you heard about the explosion of the nuclear power plant in Ukraine?"

_'Paranormal Weekly?' _Mackenzie never heard of that magazine before, but she thought she should play along, pretending that she knew whatever Chloe was talking about just to prevent her from having to sit through a long explanation and to keep Chloe's ego from getting bigger. After all, it was probably a piece of weird and useless information anyway. "Oh, yeah, I've heard all about that." Mackenzie said in a semi-convincing manner.

"Oh, really?" Chloe said, seeing through her lie. She has peer through her rival's mail from time to time and has yet to find one issue of Paranormal Weekly.

"Really? I haven't. What is it?" Penelope ask, oblivious to the glare that Mackenzie was giving her.

"Tisk, this just goes to show that you need to be more worldly." Chloe said with an air of superiority and a smug smile. _'And your worldly? You don't even know where the UK is at.' _Mackenzie thought, inwardly sighing,'_If your going to explain what that is, please be quick about it.' _

"Anyway, long ago one of the Ukraine's nuclear power plants exploded, dumping tons of radioactive waste all over the place" Chloe explain, oblivious to the fact that Penelope was the only one really listening. Mackenzie was staring at the clock, watching the time tick by and wishing that her two friends would leave so she could go to bed. Cromwell appear to be listening politely, but in reality his mind already drifted away long before she started talking.

"Romania, the vampire capital of the world, is next to Ukraine. According to the Paranormal Weekly, vampires from Romania that were visiting Ukraine were affected by the radiation." Chloe stop in front of Penelope, "And do you know what that means?" Penelope answer by shaking her head. "It means that they turned into super powerful, mutant, radioactive vampires!" Chloe exclaim. Penelope let out a frighten squeal. _'Ugh, is this going to take any longer.' _Mackenzie thought, yearning to wrap her clean sheets around her and rest her head comfortably upon her soft pillow. _ "_Now the way to tell a radioactive vampire from an average vampire is that a radioactive vampire has glowing green fangs."

_'Are you done now?' _Mackenzie hopes. Chloe turn to them in a triumphant stance and pump her fist in the air, as she said. "I, Chloe the vampire slayer, will save the town from this radioactive menace. Everyone will be so thankful to me that they'll probably put a giant statue of me in the middle of town!" _'Huh? What? Vampire slayer?' _Chloe leap ecstatically to the door, "Audios suckers, fame and glory await me!" she said before rushing off into the night to who knows where, letting the door close itself. _'Now I can get some rest.' _

"Wow, can you believe that Chloe is a vampire slayer?" Penelope said in amazement. _'Not at all.' _

The grandfather clock's toll rang out once again, announcing that it was now 9:00 o'clock. Mackenzie covers her mouth as she let out a short yawn. "_Wow, I've never been up this late before.' _"Hey, Penelope, why don't we start the…" Mackenzie stop herself when she notice that Penelope was already asleep on the couch and then notice that Cromwell was gone.

He walk back into the room with a flannel yellow blanket and drape it over Penelope. "Its time to go to bed, Milady, its way past your usual curfew. You can start your case in the morning." said Cromwell before bidding her good night and going off to the cold embrace of his iron maiden.

Mackenzie, once inside her room, sighs before setting Funghi on the tree limb of his home. As she watch her friend sleeping, she wonder how exactly he was able to sleep through all the chaos that erupted not to long ago.

Mackenzie's eyes slowly open at the constant beeping of her alarm clock. She lazily reaches toward the clock and shut off the alarm before closing her eyes again. She was so tired and besides, its Saturday, surely Cromwell wouldn't mind if she slept in just this once. Just as she was about to fall back into an unconscious slumber, Penelope's voice rang out through the door, "Oh no father! I think she's finally got us cornered! What will we do?" _'Was that Penelope?'_ Mackenzie asks herself. Then there was a burst of wicked laughter, follow by, "I have you now Mr. Flapjack and you too Tiny Egg. There's no hope for you now!" Mackenzie narrows her eyes. '_What is Penelope doing here and who is she talking too?' _

"Now that I have you in my clutches, what will I do to you first?" she pauses for a few moments. "Aha, I know, I'll pour the boiling syrup upon ye." '_Ye?' _Mackenzie thought. "Oh, please have mercy Princess Penelope of Banana Kingdom. We did not mean to offend ye." "It's to late for that. Now, prepare to meet your fate Mr. Flapjack. In my tummy you go!" another few moments of silence. "Father! No!" another burst of villainous laughter. "Now its your turn Tiny Egg."

"Miss Penelope, please lower your voice and please don't play with your food." Said Cromwell.

A small giggle was heard next. "Sorry." the door to her bedroom open and Cromwell step in.

"What are you still doing in bed Milady? Have you forgotten that you have a case to solve and a duty to put Miss Penelope's mind at ease?" he ask her as he stare down at the half awake girl, while clapping his hands, Cromwell said, "Chop, chop Milady, its time for you to get up." He bent forward over Mackenzie to open the curtains to her window. Allowing the bright morning sunlight to come into the room and temporarily blind her. She let out a groan as she cover her eyes with her hands to block out the sunlight, "Now up and at em Milady, if you don't hurry up your breakfast will get cold." He said as he walks out of the room, closing the door behind him. Mackenzie turns over onto her side and pulls the covers up over her head.

'_Five more minutes couldn't hurt.'_ Mackenzie thought as she try to go back to sleep. Only to have Fungi jump on her. She looks up and sighs. "Niff, niff." Said Fungi. _'Well I'm glad you at least got some rest last night.' _She sighs in defeat.

"Well it's about time you got up Milady." Said Cromwell, holding two empty plates stack on top of one another with an empty glass on top. "Miss Penelope had already finished her breakfast. I'm afraid that since you took so long that your breakfast has grown cold." He said before walking off to the kitchen. Mackenzie narrow her eyes at his retreating figure, _'What is it with him and waking up at a specific time?' _

"Good morning Mackenzie." said Penelope, drawing her attention away from Cromwell.

"Good morning Penelope." Said Mackenzie as she walks over to her side of the table. She stops and narrows her eyes at her friend; Penelope had a necklace of garlic around her neck. _'Do I even want to ask?' _Mackenzie inwardly sigh, she was still tired from going to bed past her regular curfew and asking about the weirdness of her friend's attire would not make her feel any better.

After taking a few bites out of her oatmeal, she starts the interrogation, "So what exactly happened?" _'This oatmeal is not cold. Cromwell is over-exaggerating again.' _She thought

"What happen with what?" Penelope asks with a sincere look of confusion.

Mackenzie narrow her eyes at her ditzy client, "What happened last night?" Mackenzie ask. _'Please don't tell me you forgot.' _Penelope squeal loudly as the events of last night rush back to her. Mackenzie sigh tiredly, it was to early in the morning for this nonsense. Once Penelope calm down enough for her to speak without constantly stuttering, the interrogation began.

"Well I was going to bed and I heard something banging against the building. And then I heard footsteps coming from Daisy's room and then it stopped." Penelope explains, Mackenzie only half listen to what she was saying, the other half she spent contemplating her oatmeal. "Then it sounded as if something was being dragged across the floor. Oh, and then there was more banging outside and then, and then…" Penelope began to shake, "Then a vampire dropped down from the sky and looked into my window. Oh, what if that vampire was going after Daisy!" Penelope cry, as she shiver. "Oh no, poor Daisy!"

Mackenzie sips her milk, "What did he look like?" _'Hmm, this milk tastes a little funny.' _

"Well, he had glowing red eyes and, and sharp, glowing green fangs." Said Penelope as she continues to shake. _'Did the milk expire today?' _Mackenzie ask herself, sniffing the milk for a sour oder.

"What else did you see?"

"Um, well it was dark so that was it." She didn't detect any oder from her milk and takes another sip.

"Are you sure it was a vampire and not just an ordinary person?" ask Mackenzie, '_Perhaps I was just imagining it.' _

"I'm sure of it, what kind of person has glowing green teeth?" _'What kind of vampire has glowing green teeth?' _

"What happened next?" Mackenzie ask before taking a bite of her scrambled eggs, _'The eggs are a little cool.' _

"I screamed and ran away, I was so scared. I thought you would be able to help me so I came here. Then when I got here I fell and then Chloe came-"

"I don't need to know that." Said Mackenzie, _'I was there.' _"Did anything happen before then?"

"Hmm," Penelope said as she ponders over the question. Her face beams a bright smile when she finally got her answer. "A new girl moved into the third floor."

"Third floor?" Mackenzie repeats. _'I thought the third floor was a scam.' _

"Yeah, one of Beatrice's old friends offered to build it for her."

"Beatrice's old friend?" Mackenzie repeats, turning half of her mind back to her eggs. '_Perhaps I should go heat them up in the microwave.'_

"Yeah, he just moved to town awhile ago. He looks really scary, but he's really nice."

"What's his name?"

"Uhh…" Penelope said as she search through her mind for the answer. "I don't remember. Wait, now I remember, his name is Taranula Scaryns." '_What kind of name is that?'_

"Um, Penelope, are you sure that's his name?" Mackenzie asks.

Penelope nods and smiles, "Yep, that's his name, I'm sure of it."

"When was this?" Mackenzie ask, taking a bite out of her toast. _'Wait, there's no cinnamon.' _

"A few weeks ago. Him and a bunch of other scary looking guys showed up to help build it." said Penelope. _'Did we run out of cinnamon?' _

"Scary?" Mackenzie repeats, _'Oh, wait now I remember.' _

"Yeah, they have lost of scars on their faces and Taranula Scarynshas only one eye." Penelope explains, _'Chloe used it all for that stupid challenge.' '_"He doesn't even have an eye patch, or hook for a hand, or a peg leg, or a parrot."

"But they were really, really nice, they even gave me cookies they baked for their convention." said Penelope.

"Convention, what convention?" Mackenzie ask, _'Why couldn't she have used her own cinnamon?' _

"Um, I don't remember. All I remember were the cookies, they were so good and so chocolaty." said Penelope.

"So who's living on the third floor?"

"Her name's Christine, she moved in just a week ago."

"So what's she like?" Mackenzie asks, taking another bite of her eggs. _'Great, now my eggs are cold.'_

"Well, um, I don't really know. She's nice, but she doesn't talk to me and she won't let me into her room, or even let me help her bring her bags up to her room when she first moved in."

"Why didn't she want you to help her with her bags?"

"She said they were fragile and even after I promised that I would be super duper careful she still wouldn't let me help."

"Do you know what were in those bags?"

"Other then that they're heavy and fragile. Nope."

"And she carried her bags up herself?"

"Yeah, all 15 at the same time."

"Never mind."

"Please catch the vampire Mackenzie!"

"I'll see what I can do." Mackenzie said before finishing the last piece of oatmeal on her plate; pondering over what Penelope had said, she doubted it was a vampire. It's more likely that it had been a robber taking the opportunity to steal some of Daisy's stuff. Still, that opens for more speculation about the glowing green teeth, that was the odd part. She'll probably get some idea as to what happened when she takes a look at the crime scene; perhaps the so-called 'vampire' accidentally left something behind.

Penelope smile, "Good, until then I think I'll stay here for awhile."

"You're going to stay here?" Mackenzie repeats slowly, "For how long exactly?"

Penelope sways back and forth as she thought about this. "Oh, I don't know, maybe a week or two, or three." '_Three weeks!" _Cromwell said I could stay as long as I need to. It'll be like a slumber party, we'll watch movies and braid each other's hair. It'll be so much fun!" Mackenzie mentally cringes at the thought of Penelope staying at her house for a long period of time. There was just so much Penelope she could take. Now, if Chloe decided to live with her, then that would be on a whole new scale of bad. She bit her bottom lip. '_Better not jinx it.' _Well now she had a new motivator to solve her case.

She should head off to Penelope's home, but she decides to stop by Cromwell's little work area first. She had grown into a habit of asking almost anyone questions when she is on the case. Also, she wonders whether or not Cromwell believed in vampires, since he agreed with Chloe that this was a serious matter.

"Do you think Penelope saw a vampire?" ask Mackenzie.

"No, I do not think she saw a real vampire. I believe that she saw someone outside her window, but I do not believe the person in question is a vampire. The fangs of a vampire do not glow in the dark and despite what Miss Chloe may believe, there is no such thing as a radioactive vampire."

"But, you believe that vampires are real?"

"Yes, Milady, I do. I don't suppose I've ever told you that I come from a long line of vampire hunters?" he ask, a gleam of pride in his eyes.

"Um, no." said Mackenzie. _'I doubt it.'_

"For decades my family scoured the lands for the undead fiends. We freed villages from their control, protected the necks of innocents from being bitten, and rescued beautiful maidens from their grasp. As time went on, the vampire threat lessened, almost to the point where there was hardly any need for vampire hunters anymore. There are still vampire hunters out there keeping vigilance, while the vast majority left the field to serve in other positions of society, such as butlers."

"Were you a vampire hunter?"

"I'm afraid not, many vampire hunters were deserting their profession when I was a lad." he sigh woefully. "A missed opportunity. However, I've met many who once were vampire hunters, and they were happy enough to explain their profession and the nature of the creatures they fought against."

"Um, Cromwell, did you tell Penelope that she could stay here for a long time?"

"I told her, that she could stay as long as she needs to. Miss Penelope is far to frighten to return to her home, believing that the fiend she had seen last night might come again. I would hope, that Milady, is not so callous enough to suggest that I force her out of our home, while she is fearing that her own safety is in danger."

"But she's not in danger…"

"That may be true, but Miss Penelope does not see that. As I said, it would be callous to force her out in her time of need. I'd hoped that Milady would show the virtues of loyalty and friendship towards Miss Penelope's plight." said Cromwell in a disappointed tone. "Think of it as another reason to motivate you to find the criminal."

Mackenzie enters the condominium with her assistant Fungi trailing closely behind her. Mackenzie looks through the large window that show the inside of the landlord's living quarters. "I wonder what Beatrice is doing. She's watching a black and white horror movie, Nosferatu_." '_Mackenzie turn her attention to the green door next to it with a big sign that said, "Landlord," and was about to knock on the door, but before Mackenzie could do that she heard a scream from upstairs. The door flung open with Beatrice sprinting out of it and up the stairs, taking three steps at a time. Mackenzie watches her go for a brief moment, thankful that she was not in front of the door at the time, before hurrying after her.

When Mackenzie reaches the foot of the second floor, Daisy's door was wide open, as well as Anna's door with a pair of irritated and curious eyes looking out into the hallway from within the impenetrable darkness of room 202. A short moment after Mackenzie reaches the second floor, she notices that there was another flight of stairs leading to the next floor. Only the first four steps were visible, while the rest disappeared behind a dense darkness.

Mackenzie could only see a pair of wide eyes close to the outskirts of the darkness, eyes that seem to produce its own dim light. The eyes were observing her meticulously, as if it was determining whether or not the little girl was a threat. Mackenzie stare back, her body still and tense, as she wonder who or what those eyes belong to. The eyes blink rapidly a few times, as if it suddenly notices that it was being stared at, before the eyes silently vanish. There is no sound of stairs creaking as the figure retreats, nor the sound of footsteps, only silence. She shiver, _'What was that?' _she ask herself as she peer into the darkness, unable to see what is up ahead. '_I really hope that I don't have to go up there.'_

"My room! My stuff! My guitar!" Daisy's voice cries out from her room.

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**It's obvious that Cromwell came from a badass family. **

**Sorry that I haven't updated in a long time. I've been having trouble with school and I've been trying to perfect this chapter. I've been writing it several different times to find the best draft for it and the best bits. Some of which have been sadly cut out, such as Cromwell comforting Penelope and Penelope seeing Cromwell as a knight in shinning armor (Cromwell x Penelope, kinda…). I'm going to try to finish this story by at least the end of January. (I hope.) **

**Please review, tell me of any errors I've made and anyway I can improve. Were the characters in character or did I mess up a bit?  
**

**In the next chapter:**

"Suspicious." She said slowly, her thin eyebrows knit as she ponder over this for a few moments. "Oh, that Penelope girl, she was partaking in what I would consider suspicious behavior. Yesterday, I witnessed her talking to her food at the park. She was eating a sandwich and when she was halfway done with it, she asked the sandwich, "Isn't it a nice day today, Mr. Sandey?" I mean, that's just plain weird! Then she said to a bush. "I'm so happy the ducks are back, aren't you, Miss. Bush. No one talks to food and plants except those who are put in straight-jackets. I've been avoiding her ever since."

"That's just Penelope being Penelope." Mackenzie try to explain

"What does that mean?" she asks.

"That's just how she acts. She's not dangerous or anything." Said Mackenzie, ' _I don't know any other way to explain it.'_

"How do you know?" Christine asks. "I mean as far as we know, she could be collecting the heads of puppies." The image of Penelope hugging a bloody puppy head will haunt Mackenzie's dreams for weeks.

"Let's change the subject."


End file.
